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CONNECTICUT COURANT HARTFORD, BY HUDSON & GOODWIN, OPPOSITE THE NORTH MEETING-HOUSE MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1800. [NUMBER 1863] |
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For the CONNECTICUT COURANT. No. XV. To the People of the United States. I HAVE at length, my countrymen, completed the plan which I originally laid out, by attempting in a variety of particulars to shew -- That Mr. Jefferson is an enemy to the Constitution of the United States, and wishes its destruction -- That if he is elected President, the Constitution will fall a sacrifice to Jacobinism -- And, that the result of its destruction will be dreadful to the United States. If I have succeeded in exciting the serious attention of only a few of you, to the dangers of our situation, I shall not have laboured in vain. That your attention ought to be most thoroughly excited to this subject, no one who watches the progress of this great enemy of human peace, prosperity, and happiness, will deny. The Jeffersonian party boast, that the increase of Jacobinism has been great in the Northern part of the United States, within the last year. Encouraged by this belief, or by some other circumstance, it is certainly true, that they are more bold, more assiduous, and more determined, in their attempts to seduce the people, and destroy the Government. Even in the state of Connecticut, where the people have hitherto been the most firm, contented, and Federal, by innumerable artifices and falsehoods and by every other species of wickedness, we have been threatened with the entire subversion of all that is dear, and valuable in society. With a bold and undaunted front, the leaders in the conspiracy, proclaim the downfal of the Government in the streets; while the peaceful, and unsuspecting citizens, are summoned to the nocturnal orgies of this pestilential band, to listen to the promulgation of sentiments bold, base, and blasphemous, uttered only to bewilder, and deceive, and calculated only to infect, corrupt, and poison all the blessings, and virtues of man.  These
are evils, which call for universal attention, and the most effectual
counteraction. When once these sentiments obtain a stedfast foothold among
us, they will spread like wild-fire; and like wild-fire they will destroy.
They are levelled with a sure, and deadly aim, directly at the life of
society. They will enter your dwellings, deprave the minds of children,
estrange the affections of parents, and pollute the bosoms of husbands
and wives. The propagators of them are active, subtle, persevering, and
fearless. Against these foes of the whole human race, let the virtuous,
and patriotic of every age and character unite, and exert every possible
power. A moment's relaxation in this defensive warfare, until the enemy
is subdued, and driven from the field, will be highly dangerous. Nothing
is more hazardous than a truce; nothing more fatal than a compromise.
This FEDERAL UNION ought to be open, and avowed. We need not hesitate
to declare, that it is for the safety of our peace, our families, our
Government, our morals, and our religion. For their safety, who will refuse
to hazard his all?I
have said that the Jacobins are active, subtle, persevering, and fearless,in
the propagation of their sentiments, and in the execution of their destructive
plans. No other description of men, can so justly lay claim to these traits
of |
character, as Jacobins. They are active,
in ranging from one end of the country to the other, in pursuit of objects
to delude, and tools to employ, in their mischievous work.Regardless of
obstacles, fatigue, or hazard, they "compass sea and land to make proselytes,
for the purpose of rendering them" if possible, "tenfold more the children
of hell than themselves." "They cease not day nor night," to labour in
the mighty task of ruining mankind. They are subtle, in addressing themselves
to the foibles, the passions, and the vices of human nature, and of enlisting
them all in their service. They converse only with the frailties, and
the crimes of men; and the first step towards gaining a convert to their
cause, is sapping the foundations of his virtue. They are persevering;
not discouraged by defeat; and tho'often routed, they are rarely vanquished.
The disasters of yesterday, only serve to stimulate the efforts of to-day;
and tho'disgrace, obloquy, and abhorrence, are heaped upon them to-day,
they will rush with undaunted courage to the mischiefs of to-morrow. They
are fearless, not only of the finger of honest scorn, but of the
terrors of guilt, the remorse of conscience, and the justice of God.Can you, my countrymen,
rest, when assailed by foes of this description? Do you indulge the chimerical
belief, that your liberties will be safe in such hands as these? Will
you listen to the man, who attempts to lull you to sleep by the pretence,
that Jacobins, in power, will prove the cherishers of your peace,
the guardians of your property, the protectors of your freedom and independence?
Is there a man among the principal Democrats, whose example you would
not be ashamed to follow; whose character all honest men do not abhor?
Are their habits of life economical, their lives pure, or their virtue
spotless? Are they celebrated for private worth, in the circles of deomestic
life? Are they distinguished for their integrity, their morals, or their
regard for religion? If not, what have you to expect from their elevation
to the offices of Government? Do you believe in the strangest of all paradoxes,
that a spendthirft, a libertine, or an Atheist, characters which none
of you would trust with the most trifling concern in your own private
affairs, is qualified to make your laws, and to govern you, and your posterity;
to be entrusted with the treasure, the strength, and the destiny of the
nation? "He that ruleth over [illegible] must be just, ruling in the fear
of God," is the language of [ins?]piration. We ought to be extremely cautious,
how we deliberately contradict a maxim, propounded by God himself. It
has been the pride, and the honour of this country, that our Chief Magistrates
have hitherto been men who feared God. The influence of their example,
has spread like a charm, thro'out the sphere of their Government; and
it has become a mark of reproach in a ruler, that he disregards the obligations
of our holy religion. Mr. Jefferson, the idol of the Jacobin party, by
the common voice of his countrymen, wears this stigma. His partizans,
for the accomplishment of a temporary purpose (his Election) pretend to
deny its justice, and from the remotest sources, attempt to derive evidence
of his belief in Christianity. They know that he has no claim to the character.
They know if he had, that he would lose all popularity with his
party. If he is a Christian, it is capable of proof. No man ever lived
in this country, until nearly sixty years of age, |
without furnishing the most indubitable evidence that he believed in
the Christian religion, if it were true. Let them produce this
evidence; or at least, some one authenticated fact to oppose to the
irresistible weight of evidence in proof of his real Infidelity. Where
is the man, even among his bosom friends, who has ever heard him acknowledge
his dependence on God, his accountability to his Creator and Judge,
or who has seen him enter the sanctuary, to join in the duties of holy
worship? BURLEIGH. |